Chapter 95

After leaving old George's place, Jintai and his group returned to the banquet hall. ⊙

At this moment, in the banquet hall, the public charity donation campaign was in full swing.

"I will donate $20,000 to support the Police Officer Family Welfare Fund, hoping that the police can better serve the Los Angeles area without worrying about their families."

"I will donate $60,000 to the Los Angeles Fire Department Fund!"

"I will donate $40,000 to the Los Angeles Education Department Fund!"

Is this possible?

Jintai looked at the guests who occasionally shouted out the amounts they were donating and the corresponding recipients, feeling it was almost unbelievable.

How fresh!

This is really fresh!

Such public charity donations are specifically for projects established by public departments such as the police, fire, and education departments.

In theory, these departments should be supported by national fiscal allocations, right? Even if they have their own foundations, they shouldn't be doing this.

How can it be!

They still need to raise funds!

It's truly bizarre.

As someone who doesn't fully understand the parallel American society, Jintai indeed found it hard to accept what was happening before his eyes.

But existence is reasonable, even if he couldn't accept it immediately.

Here, it's different from China. In China, such public departments are indeed supported by national allocations, and these are special allocations.

Even the foundations are controlled by the state.

But in the United States, although the federal government provides allocations to support the public development of each state, the amount of money allocated is far from enough.

At most, it can only maintain the operation of these departments.

As for benefits, you can forget about them.

Therefore, American civil servants are actually very hard-pressed, far less fortunate than their counterparts in China.

To have some legal benefits, American civil servants came up with a method.

They established a foundation to specifically seek 'public charity donations' for themselves!

Yes, you read that right, that's exactly what it means.

And these donations are mostly used for repairing old facilities and updating equipment, not for the personal benefit of the civil servants.

At most, when you buy a house, start a family, or face actual difficulties, you can get a low-interest loan from the foundation instead of borrowing from a bank.

At the same time, these donations are supervised by dedicated personnel.

If you want to embezzle, don't even think about it.

This can be considered a way to reduce federal fiscal pressure and encourage local self-reliance, and it can also be seen as a form of 'benefit.'

Despite this, for American civil servants, this is still a good thing, and they are not picky at all.

Pitiful!

Truly pitiful!

After learning the truth from Dave, Jintai felt a deep sympathy for the American civil servants.

Of course, these are just surface-level matters.

In reality, the enthusiasm of the guests is also due to the tangible benefits they can gain.

If you support the police, the police will be more willing to help you when you need it.

If you support the fire department, you will also receive preferential treatment, especially if you are in business, as the fire department cannot afford to offend you.

If you support education, your children will have an easier time with school transfers and admissions.

Although there is no concept of 'backdoor connections' in the United States, people are flexible.

These donations can help the police buy new bulletproof vests, which is a good thing for the safety of the police officers, right?

Yes!

So you should be grateful to the donors, and some minor issues can be overlooked.

Americans are straightforward, but that doesn't mean they don't value personal relationships.

Within the bounds of the law, they still value personal relationships.

Unlike in China, where everything is about personal relationships.

At this point, Jintai finally understood the inside story and sighed at how naive he had been.

Since that's the case, should he also donate some money?

This is a good opportunity to build relationships with the police and other public departments.

Besides, he still had some spare money.

He had over $70 million in his bank account, and it was almost the end of the month. When the December royalties were settled, he would have more income.

Although his three companies needed a lot of money to support, Jintai was very clear that some money should be spent, such as supporting public charity.

"Mr. Dave, do you have any blank checks?"

Thinking about this, Jintai tugged at Dave's sleeve and asked quietly.

Dave noticed Jintai tugging at him and looked down at him. "What's up? I brought a checkbook."

"Can you lend me some money? I want to donate, but I didn't bring a checkbook, so I have to borrow from you first. I'll transfer the money back to you when I get home."

"How much do you plan to donate?"

Seeing that Jintai wanted to donate, Dave didn't stop him, as it was Jintai's personal decision.

As for lending money, Dave wasn't worried that Jintai couldn't pay it back, knowing that the December royalties were about to be settled.

Dave, who knew the sales figures for this month, wasn't worried at all that Jintai couldn't pay it back.

Moreover, he was very clear that Jintai had tens of millions of dollars in his bank account.

So why wouldn't he lend money to Jintai?

Besides, Jintai wasn't borrowing money to spend on frivolous things like girls or drugs, but to donate to public charity.

This is a good thing, so why wouldn't he support it?

Moreover, Jintai was already a well-known young writer, and building good relationships with these public departments would greatly benefit his future personal image, which in turn would boost his novel sales.

Dave wasn't a fool; he quickly thought of many things.

At the same time, Dave secretly glanced at Annie, who was standing behind Jintai, holding Coco in her left hand and pushing the wheelchair with her right. She seemed to support and approve of Jintai's idea.

Since Annie didn't seem to oppose it, why should he?

"How much do you plan to donate? It looks like today's donations are only for the police, fire, and education departments."

Dave took out his checkbook from the inner pocket of his suit and asked Jintai.

Faced with Dave's question, Jintai carefully considered it.

He had donated $100 to old George's campaign.

So, the amount for public charity shouldn't exceed this.

Otherwise, how would old George feel?

But it couldn't be too little either; at least it should leave a lasting impression.

Who knows if he would need to deal with these departments in the future? At least leaving an impression would make things easier if he needed to.

Jintai weighed the pros and cons and finally made a decision. He looked up at Dave and said, "I will donate $500,000 to each of the three departments. I think this amount should satisfy them."

After much consideration, Jintai decided to donate $500,000 to each of the police, fire, and education departments.

If it weren't for old George, Jintai would have donated $1 million.

Dave's lips twitched when he heard this.

Donating $500,000 and still worrying that they won't be satisfied?

What a joke!

This is already a lot of money.

Jintai's self-deprecation made Dave almost laugh and cry.

Fortunately, Annie gave Jintai a small hint.

"Don't worry, $500,000 is already a lot. For such charity donations, $100,000 is already very generous. You donate $500,000 to them, and they will be more than happy."

What, $500,000 and these guys will be overjoyed?

Jintai couldn't believe what he was hearing.

But seeing Dave's approving expression, Jintai had to accept Annie's words.

Swish, swish, swish!

Dave wrote out three cash checks, each for $500,000, which could be exchanged for cash at the bank.

After confirming with Jintai and getting a clear response, he turned around and raised his right hand toward the small stage, waving the checks. "Young writer William Jin donates $500,000 to the Los Angeles Police Officer Foundation, the Los Angeles Fire Department Safety Foundation, and the Los Angeles Education Development Foundation!"

On the small stage, the state public department spokesperson, who was still talking about the hardships of civil servants and the conditions of various department facilities, suddenly had a bright look in his eyes.

His heart bloomed.

$500,000 for each of the three departments, totaling $1.5 million.

This is truly a 'tycoon'!

So far, the banquet today hadn't even raised $2 million in donations, but this one donation increased it by almost half.

Good! Good! Good!

This is really great!

Meanwhile, Jintai, who was in a secluded corner of the hall, felt somewhat uneasy when he noticed everyone looking at him.

He wasn't quite used to being the center of attention.

Annie, at this moment, subtly stepped back with Coco, hiding among the guests and finding Jintai's nervous and awkward appearance on the wheelchair quite amusing.

The media reporters, who had come to the banquet, now surrounded him.

Click! Click! Click!

Flashbulbs and shutter sounds kept going off.

Such a 'large amount' of donation couldn't be without a photo.

Moreover, this was the largest donation of the evening.

Sitting in the wheelchair, Jintai's eyes were almost blinded by the flashbulbs, so he had to squint.

Dave, on the other hand, stood beside the wheelchair, posing in what he thought was a cool stance, letting the reporters take his picture.

"William, smile. Your expression is too stiff. It needs to be softer; otherwise, the photo in the newspaper will look bad. You need to get used to this. This is just the beginning; in the future, you will have to deal with the media a lot, especially in Los Angeles..."

While posing, Dave smiled and occasionally teased Jintai.